


Never Truly Alone

by doctornineandthreequarters



Series: Iron Dad Bingo [8]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: Character Death, Hurt, Hurt Peter, Iron Dad, Iron Dad Bingo, May Parker (Spider-Man) Dies, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Protective Tony Stark, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-18
Updated: 2019-04-18
Packaged: 2020-01-16 03:15:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,313
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18512767
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/doctornineandthreequarters/pseuds/doctornineandthreequarters
Summary: Peter sat in the ER trying to fight back the tears. His hands were shaking, spots of dried blood on them. This couldn’t be happening. This shouldn’t have happened.----Iron Dad Bingo #8- Trope: May Dies





	Never Truly Alone

**Author's Note:**

> Iron Dad Bingo Prompt #8! Enjoy!

Peter sat in the ER trying to fight back the tears. His hands were shaking, spots of dried blood on them. This couldn’t be happening. This shouldn’t have happened.

May had wanted to take him out to dinner. Just a simple thing. She had burned the meatloaf, again, and figured dinner out was probably a better solution. He fought down a sob realizing he would never see his aunt burn meatloaf again. He would never hear her laugh or the smile she had when she made bad jokes. They’d never get Thai food again. She’d never hold him and promise everything would be okay again.

It had been raining, hard. May was a great driver. She always bragged that coming from an Italian family meant she knew how to deal with crazies on the road because her fresh-off-the-boat Italian grandparents and her parents were crazy. It wasn’t her fault that another car swerved into her lane. It wasn’t her fault that the car slammed into theirs. 

Peter hadn’t seen it coming. What was the point of having ‘spidey senses’ if they didn’t do anything? He should’ve been able to protect his aunt. He should’ve saved her. He could still hear the sound of their car slamming into the other. He could still hear screaming, unsure if it was May or his. He could see her, in the driver’s seat, Peter trying to apply pressure to the wound on her head.

“It’s okay sweetie.” Those were the last words she had whispered to him as the sirens of the ambulance had grown closer, Peter screaming her name, begging that she open her eyes. 

“Peter?” A blonde haired woman, wearing a blue blouse and dark-washed jeans approached him, bringing him out of the memory from earlier in the evening. She had introduced herself earlier, but Peter forgot her name when she said she was a social worker. May was his last living family member. He had no one else. “Is there anyone you want to call?” Peter, with tears still falling down his face, nodded. “Why don’t you go ahead and do that?” Peter got up and walked a little ways away, the social worker giving him the space he needed. He pulled his phone out of his pocket.

“ _Hey kid, kind of late to be calling_ ,” Peter tried to speak, but instead a sob bubbled out of his throat. “ _Peter is everything okay_?”

“C-can y-you,” He tried to speak through the sobs, taking big gulps of air. “Can you come get me?”

“ _Where are you_?” There was concern in Tony’s words and a sudden urgency.

“T-the hospital,” Peter said. He heard Tony suck in a breath. Then, he could hear something on the other end of the call, almost like typing.

“ _I’ll be there in fifteen minutes_ ,” Tony said. Peter let out a small sound, almost like a cry of relief. “ _Just hang tight kiddo, alright_?” Peter nodded, but then remembered he was on the phone.

“Okay,” Peter said shakily before ending the call. He walked back over to the social worker, who smiled. “S-someone’s coming for me. T-they’ll be here soon.” The social worker nodded, a polite smile on her face. Peter sat back in the chair, fighting back the tears pouring out of his eyes.

* * *

The minute the call ended, Tony nearly ran to his car. Something was wrong with Peter. He was at the hospital and he sounded like he had been crying for a while. Clearly, whatever was wrong wasn’t Spider-Man related. He had a warning set-up for anytime Peter got hurt while wearing the suit. He sped down the highway, ignoring the honks of angry drivers as he passed. He made it to the hospital in record time. Once he was inside, it didn’t take him long to find Peter.

The teen’s eyes were red and signs of dried tears were on his face. His hair was messier than usual, like he’d run his hand through it out of stress. There was dried blood on his hands. Why was there dried blood on his hands? 

“Peter,” He said, as he approached the boy. Peter looked up at him.

“M-mister Stark,” Peter said, slowly standing. “M-may. S-he’s g-gone.” The tears were springing back to his eyes.

“Oh kid,” Tony said, before wrapping his arms around him and hugging him tightly. Peter buried his head in Tony’s chest, his sobs being muffled by Tony’s T-shirt. Tony just hugged him, letting the teenager cry, trying to still the shaking from the sobs. Some people were staring but Tony didn’t care. The kid was upset and needed someone to comfort him.

“Excuse me,” A blonde woman approached them. “Perhaps we can talk somewhere private?” 

“Who are you?” Tony asked, eyeing her. 

“Alicia Sharp, I’m the social worker for the hospital.” Social worker. That couldn’t be good. “Shall we?”

“Let’s take a walk Pete,” Tony said gently. Tony unwound his arms from Peter. Peter looked up at him, his eyes still full of tears. Seeing him so broken hurt something in Tony, something he didn’t expect. Peter nodded and followed the social worker. Tony followed, keeping a protective hand on his shoulder. That seemed to calm Peter a little, his body no longer shaking from sobs. The social worker opened a door to a small conference room and allowed them to walk in. Tony sat down and Peter sat close to him. Tony squeezed his shoulder and offered him a reassuring smile.

“Because of tonight’s tragic and unforeseen circumstances,” The social worker began. “Peter is now a ward of the state.” Peter choked back a sob. He was alone. He had no family left. First his parents, then Ben, and now May. There was no one left to take care of him.

“Yeah no,” Tony said. “I’m not going to let that happen.” Peter looked at Tony, surprised by his response.

“Mr. Stark he’s an orphan,” She said, trying to be as gentle as possible. “The only option is foster care.” The word orphan stung in Tony’s hair. He knew what that felt like. He couldn’t let Peter go through that alone.

“I don’t have anyone else. I’m alone.” Peter said before breaking down again. Tony glared at the social worker before turning towards Peter. 

“Kid look at me,” Tony said. Peter looked up at Tony, his face a mess of tears. “You are not alone, alright? I’m right here and I’m not going to let anything bad happen to you. I’ve got you buddy, okay?”

“You do?” Peter asked, trying wipe some of the tears away. Tony smiled sadly and nodded.

“You hear that lady?” Tony asked, turning back towards the social worker. “He’s not a ward of the state. And if you have a problem with that, you can call my lawyers.” He stood up as the social worker stared at him in shock. “Come on Peter.” Peter got up quickly and followed Tony, sticking as close to him as possible. Tony wrapped his arm around Peter, keeping the teen close to his side. Once they were inside Tony’s car, Peter turned to look at him.

“What happens now?” Peter asked.

“Well you’ve got a place to stay at the Tower,” Tony said. “And if you need someone to take care of you, I’m it kiddo.” 

“You really mean that?” Peter asked. 

“Yeah kid, I do.” He reached over and ruffled Peter’s hair, earning a small smile from the saddened teen. “Let’s get back to the Tower and you can clean up and try to rest, okay?” Peter nodded. It wasn’t going to be an easy fix. Tony needed to text Pepper and loop her in. There was paperwork to fill out. He knew there was emotional trauma on Peter that was going to take time to heal. 

But Tony was going to be there for Peter. Of that he was certain.

**Author's Note:**

> Scream with me on my tumblr? http://doctornineandthreequarters.tumblr.com/


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